1976 in literature#Deaths

• June 21 – The Market Theatre in Johannesburg, South Africa, is opened as a multiracial venue by Barney Simon.{{cite web|url=https://www.theheritageportal.co.za/article/birth-market-theatre|title=The Birth of the Market Theatre|author=Nigel Mandy|website=Heritage Portal|access-date=9 July 2024}}
• September 3 – Novelist Antonio di Benedetto is released from prison after 18 months of imprisonment and torture under the National Reorganization Process (military dictatorship) in Argentina.{{cite book|author=Antonio Di Benedetto|title=Zama|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p3sOBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT5|date=23 August 2016|publisher=New York Review Books|isbn=978-1-59017-735-8|pages=5}}
• September 9 – The Royal Shakespeare Company starts a noted production of Shakespeare's Macbeth at The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon, England, with Ian McKellen and Judi Dench in the leading roles, directed by Trevor Nunn.{{cite web|url=https://mckellen.com/stage/macbeth/index.htm|title=Macbeth|website=Ian McKellen official page|access-date=9 July 2024}}
• October 25 – The Royal National Theatre on London's South Bank opens in premises designed by Sir Denys Lasdun, with a performance of Goldoni's 18th-century comedy Il Campiello.{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/25/newsid_2478000/2478397.stm |title=Queen opens National Theatre in London |publisher=BBC |work=On This Day |access-date=2012-03-02 |date=1976-10-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307121507/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/25/newsid_2478000/2478397.stm |archive-date=2008-03-07|url-status=live}}
• unknown dates
• Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers is established in new premises at Nanterre.{{Cite web |url=http://www.evene.fr/culture/lieux/theatre-des-amandiers-382.php |title=Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers |publisher=evene.fr |language=fr |access-date=2013-11-29}}
• Mary Ronnie became the world's first female national librarian, at the National Library of New Zealand.{{Cite web|url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/41646/mary-ronnie-national-librarian-1978|title=Mary Ronnie, National Librarian, 1978|last=Millen|first=Julia|date=2014-10-22|website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand|access-date=2019-06-28}}

• Ann Beattie – Chilly Scenes of Winter{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JIMFAQAAIAAJ|title=Chilly scenes of winter|first=Ann|last=Beattie|date=September 24, 1976|publisher=Doubleday|isbn=9780385116589 |via=Google Books}}
• John Braine – Waiting for Sheila{{cite book|title=The Atlantic Companion to Literature in English|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Distributors (P) Limited|year=2007|isbn=9788126908325|page=61}}
• William F. Buckley – Saving the Queen (the first Blackford Oakes thriller){{cite book|author=Paul Bodine|title=Operative Words: Essays and Reviews on Literature and Culture|year=2002|isbn=9780595243044|page=133|publisher=iUniverse }}
• Anthony Burgess – Beard's Roman Women{{cite book|author=Anthony Burgess|title=Beard's Roman Women: A novel|publisher=McGraw-Hill|year=1976|page=4}}
• Ramsey Campbell – The Height of the Scream{{cite book | last=Jaffery | first=Sheldon | authorlink=Sheldon Jaffery | title=The Arkham House Companion | location=Mercer Island, WA | publisher=Starmont House, Inc.| pages=115 | year=1989 | isbn=1-55742-005-X}}
• Brian Garfield – Gundown{{cite book|author=Jeffrey M. Wallmann|title=The Western: Parables of the American Dream|publisher=Texas Tech University Press|year=1999|isbn=9780896724235|page=163}}
• Fănuș Neagu – Frumoșii nebuni ai marilor orașe ("Those Beautiful Lunatics of the Great Cities"){{cite journal|title=Cronica literară. Frumoșii nebuni ai marilor orașe|first=Cornel|last=Ungureanu|journal=Orizont|volume=XXVII|issue=15|page=2|year=1976}}

• Richard Adams – The Tyger Voyage{{cite book |last1=Hahn |first1=Daniel |title=The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford. University Press |isbn=9780198715542 |page=3 |edition=2nd}}

• Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Mugo – The Trial of Dedan Kimathi{{Cite web |title=The Trial of Dedan Kimathi {{!}} play by Ngugi wa Thiong'o and Mugo {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Trial-of-Dedan-Kimathi |access-date=2024-05-07 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}
• Neil Simon – California Suite{{cite book|author=Susan Fehrenbacher Koprince|title=Understanding Neil Simon|publisher=University of South Carolina Press|year=2002|isbn=9781570034268|page=76}}

• October 31 – Seth Abramson, American journalist and poet{{cite web|url=https://www.planksip.org/an-unexpected-success-seth-abramson/|title=The Bar Exam of Digital Success — Seth Abramson|author=Brent Antonson|website=Planksip|date=17 November 2023 |access-date=July 9, 2024}}
• unknown dates
• Bora Chung, Korean short story writer and novelist{{Cite web |title=Bora Chung |url=https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/authors/bora-chung |access-date=2022-05-25 |website=The Booker Prizes |language=en}}

• January 12 – Agatha Christie, English crime writer (born 1890){{cite web |title=Agatha Christie {{!}} Biography, Novels, & Facts |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Agatha-Christie |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=14 September 2020 |language=en}}
• January 25 – Victor Ehrenberg, German historian (born 1891){{cite book|title=The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2011|isbn=9781403939104|page=239}}
• February 2 – Barbara Euphan Todd, English children's writer (born 1890){{cite book|title=Twentieth-century Children's Writers|publisher=Macmillan Education UK|year=1978|isbn=9781349036486|page=1226}}
• February 12 – John Lewis, Welsh philosopher (born 1889){{cite book|author=Rajani Palme Dutt|title=The Labour Monthly|year=1976|publisher=Labour Publishing Company|page=118}}
• March 5 – Charles Lederer, American screenwriter and film director (born 1910){{cite news|title=Charles Lederer Dead at 65; The Stage and Screen Writer|work=The New York Times|date=March 7, 1976|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1976/03/07/121597456.pdf|accessdate=2009-05-06 }}
• March 7 – Tove Ditlevsen, Danish poet and fiction writer (suicide, born 1917){{cite web |url=http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/toved.htm |title=Tove Ditlevsen |website=Books and Writers (kirjasto.sci.fi) |first=Petri |last=Liukkonen |publisher=Kuusankoski Public Library |location=Finland |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105141535/http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/toved.htm |archive-date=5 November 2011 |url-status=dead }}
• March 13 – Sergiu Dan, Romanian novelist and journalist (born 1903){{cite journal|title=Calendar. Martie|journal=Minimum|volume=VII|issue=72|year=1993|page=44}}
• April 2 – Taos Amrouche, Algerian novelist (born 1913){{cite book| last = Gikandi| first = Simon| authorlink = Simon Gikandi| title = Encyclopedia of African Literature|publisher = Taylor & Francis| year = 2003| isbn = 978-1-134-58223-5| pages = 31–32}}
• April 28 – Richard Hughes, British novelist (born 1900){{cite book|title=Twentieth-century Children's Writers|publisher=Macmillan Education UK|year=1978|isbn=9781349036486|page=624}}
• May 7 – Alison Uttley, English writer of children's books (born 1884){{cite book|title=Twentieth-century Children's Writers|publisher=Macmillan Education UK|year=1978|isbn=9781349036486|page=1279}}
• July 3 – Alexander Lernet-Holenia, Austrian poet, dramatist and fiction writer (born 1897){{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/05/archives/alexander-lernetholenia-dean-of-austrian-writers.html|title=Alexander Lernet-Holenia, Dean of Austrian Writers|date=July 5, 1976|website=New York Times|access-date=10 July 2024}}
• July 15 – Paul Gallico, American novelist, short story and sports writer (born 1897){{cite web|author=Molly Ivins|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/17/archives/paul-gallico-sportswriter-and-author-is-dead-at-78-founded-golden.html|title=Paul Gallico, Sportswriter And Author, Is Dead at 78|website=The New York Times|date=July 17, 1976|access-date=October 25, 2020}}
• August 9 – José Lezama Lima, Cuban writer and poet (born [1910){{cite book|author1=Sandro R. Barros|author2=Rafael Ocasio|author3=Angela L. Willis|title=The Dissidence of Reinaldo Arenas: Queering Literature, Politics, and the Activist Curriculum|publisher=University of Florida Press|year=2022|isbn=9781683403098|page=118}}
• August 29 – Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bengali poet (born 1899){{cite web|url=https://www.banglatribune.com/others/religion/683936/%E0%A6%AF%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%9C%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B6%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%B6%E0%A6%BE%E0%A7%9F%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A4-%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BF-%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%9C%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%B2|title=যে মসজিদের পাশে শায়িত কবি নজরুল|trans-title=Poet Nazrul is lying next to the mosque|lang=bn|first=Abid|last=Hasan|date=5 June 2021|access-date=30 August 2022|website=Bangla Tribune|archive-date=20 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220420000609/https://www.banglatribune.com/others/religion/683936/%E0%A6%AF%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%9C%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B6%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%B6%E0%A6%BE%E0%A7%9F%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A4-%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BF-%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%9C%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%B2|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://sarabangla.net/post/sb-674840/|title=ঢাকায় নজরুল, নজরুলের ঢাকা|trans-title=Nazrul in Dhaka, Nazrul's Dhaka|lang=bn|date=24 May 2022|access-date=30 August 2022|first=Bipul|last=Zaman|website=Sarabangla.net|archive-date=24 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624091030/https://sarabangla.net/post/sb-674840/|url-status=live}}
• September 10 – Dalton Trumbo, American novelist and screenwriter (born 1905){{cite news |title=Dalton Trumbo, Film Writer, Dies. Oscar Winner Had Been Blacklisted |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/09/11/archives/dalton-trumbo-film-writer-dies-oscar-winner-had-been-blacklisted.html|work=The New York Times |date=September 11, 1976 |access-date=June 18, 2008 | first=Jon | last=Nordheimer}}
• October 30 – Barbu Solacolu, Romanian poet, translator and economist (born 1897){{cite journal|title=Calendar|journal=România Literară|issue=46|year=1996|page=6}}
• November 4 – Robert Speaight, English actor, biographer and essayist (born 1904){{Cite ODNB|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/31704|title=Speaight, Robert William}}
• November 6 – Patrick Dennis, American novelist (pancreatic cancer, born 1921){{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,914686,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110220151511/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,914686,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 20, 2011|title=Milestones, Nov. 22, 1976|date=November 22, 1976|magazine=Time|access-date=June 1, 2010}}
• November 23 – André Malraux, French novelist (born 1901){{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/11/24/archives/andre-malraux-75-dies-in-paris-writer-war-hero-de-gaulle-aide-andre.html|title = Andre Malraux, 75, Dies in Paris; Writer, War Hero, de Gaulle Aide|newspaper = The New York Times|date = November 24, 1976}}
• December 21 – Munro Leaf, American children's author (born 1905){{cite news|last=Franklin|first=Ben A. |title=Munro Leaf, Author, Dead at 71; Creator of Ferdinand the Bull|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/12/22/archives/munro-leaf-author-dead-at-71-creator-of-ferdinand-the-bull.html|work=The New York Times|date=December 22, 1976|accessdate=27 February 2020}}
• December 22 – Martín Luis Guzmán, Mexican novelist and journalist (born 1887){{cite book |last=Camp |first=Roderic Ai |chapter=Martín Luis Guzmán |title=Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture |volume=3 |page=157 |place=New York |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |year=1996}}
• December 26 – Yashpal, Hindi novelist (born 1903){{cite book |title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature |volume=1 |editor-first=Amaresh |editor-last=Datta |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |year=1987 |isbn=9788126018031 |page=279}}
• December 29 – G. B. Edwards, Guernsey-born writer (born 1899){{cite web|url=http://ahrcbiographynetwork.com/?p=299|title=G B Edwards and The Book of Ebenezer le Page|author=Edward Chaney|publisher=Arts and Humanities Research Council, University of Southampton|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331134912/http://ahrcbiographynetwork.com/?p=299 |access-date=9 July 2024|archive-date=2012-03-31 }}

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